Chapter Forty-Eight Noah

"It's the middle of the night." Noah stared at the others. "It was supposed to be empty."

His entire team wore similar expressions. Shock, disbelief, uncertainty. They were here to destroy the warehouse. But there were people inside.

And the gunshots suggested they were not friendly.

The group had crept the final distance to their target as one. Assembling in a shadowy doorway across the street, they had readied themselves. But as Charlie and Paulo had begun to unpack the explosives, the shots had cut through the night.

"What do we do now?" Ruth whispered. "We can't blow the place up if it's occupied."

"No." Paulo was scowling. "We can't. But there aren't enough of us to surround the place and clear it."

"I'll slip around back, see what else I can learn." Charlie hurried off across the street without hesitation.

The remaining trio waited in tense silence for a few minutes. Noah's mind whirled through possibilities. During their planning, Madeleine and Blake had been working on the assumption that too much was happening in the city for Danforth to keep a guard presence at the warehouse. But her stock of drugs was valuable. Too valuable, apparently.

It made sense that the warehouse was being guarded.

But the gunshots had been hostile. They implied a second force, one which was attacking those who guarded the drugs. Someone who had a grievance with Danforth.

There were numerous citizens all over the city who were angry. But they were unlikely to know about the warehouse. Even if they had learned of its location and wanted to act, they would have arrived mob-handed.

There was no crowd outside the warehouse. No clamour of protest, the way there had been at the academy.

This was a smaller, more organised group. One with some useful intel, and a personal grudge against the chancellor.

Noah turned to his brother, "Do you think it's–"

"Jacob?" His brother nodded grimly. "Could be."

"We can't know for certain." Ruth glanced between Noah and Paulo. "Not until we see them."

"We know he has limited numbers, at least." Paulo remained tense. "Without Harden, there are even fewer of them."

"But we have no idea how many of Danforth's forces are inside," Ruth countered.

"Could be one." Noah fought the rising panic. "Could be twenty."

"There were only two shots." Paulo frowned. "Doesn't sound like a massacre."

"More likely a stand-off of some kind." Ruth strained her neck, as though she might see through the walls. "If they had achieved their goal, Jacob's group would be out and running by now."

"You're probably right." Paulo rubbed a hand over his chin. "Either way, I'm not sure we should risk going through with what we have planned. Not without more intel. Larger numbers. More weapons."

Noah gestured to his wristclip. "Not without consulting Madeleine."

"Wait til Charlie gets back." Paulo was shifting from one foot to the other, his eyes searching for his partner's return. "See if she's learned anything useful."

"What if it is Jacob and…" Ruth hesitated, "and Madeleine tells us to go ahead anyway? Blow the place, despite him being inside?" She chewed her lip. "I don't know how I'd feel about that. About…"

"Killing him?" Noah shuddered. "Me neither. I'd hope she wouldn't want us to do that. The Resistance is about reducing the loss of life. Saving people, not killing them. But we're so close to our goal now. With the city in such chaos, Jacob puts our plans at risk."

"She might feel it's a necessary sacrifice." Ruth held Noah's gaze, her eyes intense. "Destroying these warehouses is vital. We do this, we stop the experimentation. Cut Danforth off. Make sure that–"

"That she can't continue to experiment on people." Noah nodded. "I know. It has to be done. But I don't want to do it at the expense of Jacob's life."

They fell silent. Several more tense moments passed before they spotted a shadowy figure hurrying along the street. When Charlie reached them, she shook her head.

"It's impossible to see inside. Place has limited windows, all of them covered. That's the main door," she pointed, "on the front of the building. There's a back exit, but it's padlocked."

"Hear anything helpful?"

She shook her head. "Walls are too thick. No more gunfire, at least. Looks like…"

Noah was distracted as his wristclip vibrated. Gesturing to the others, he tapped at the unfamiliar button and read the message scrolling up the tiny screen.

"It's Madeleine." He shrugged off the others, who were crowding in behind him. "She wants us to stand down."

"You think she knows what's going on in there?" Ruth was gazing at the warehouse intently, as though she might develop x-ray vision at any moment.

"Maybe. Instructions are to return to headquarters as soon as possible."

"But why?" Paulo reached for the clip. "Can't we ask her?"

"She says it's imperative we get out of here as soon as possible." Noah pulled his wrist out of his brother's reach. "We'll receive more information when we get there."

Paulo frowned. "But I thought she wanted this place destroyed?"

"She does. There must be a very good reason to call us back." Noah shrugged. "We'd better get going."

Scowling, Paulo and Charlie rezipped their packs. The group was ready to go within seconds. As they left the warehouse behind, Noah knew there was unfinished business inside. But they couldn't disobey Madeleine's orders.

They hurried through the streets as fast as they dared, keeping to the shadows where possible. As they reached the centre, a roaring sound split the air.

They turned as one. On the opposite side of the city, a thousand sparks flew skywards.

"The other warehouse!" Ruth's eyes were wide.

"One down." Noah inhaled deeply. "One to go."

But time was ticking on. For the plan to work, they had to get rid of both. And, right now, they had no idea why their mission had been aborted.